Return
by Alex Ashnight
Summary: Secrets are revealed. Relationships tested. Friendships stretched. Khan's returned with a few motives for revenge and he will get what he wants. Can the crew of the Enterprise stop him? Or will he destroy them? Warning: Possible upcoming violence.
1. Nightmares

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything!

* * *

Captain James Tiberius Kirk and First Commander S'chn T'gai Spock of the _USS_ _Enterprise_ were walking through the city of the Federation planet they had docked at for a cargo transport. Captain Kirk was talking to said planet's ruler, Munik O'Lakanes, it did _not_ sound how it was spelled in the least. If anything the man's name was so hard to pronounce he allowed them to call him Jahasa which was luckily spelled the same way it sounded. Spock stood tall in his uniform with his hands clasped behind his back and his usual stoic expression in place. He observed everything and anything possible, looking more specifically at anything that could be a threat, all the while listening in on Jahasa and Jim's conversation which was being discussed in Jahasa's native language.

"...and we had to run through Engineering..." Kirk was saying.

It was only a year since they'd encountered Khan and what every member of the _Enterprise_ who'd survived the battle between them and Admiral Marcus learned was cautiousness and gained in their observation skills. They weren't traumatized or anything of the sort, if anything at all they'd gained courage, observations skills, a knack for being able to tell truths from lies, and they'd learned to save their trust. Nobody was exactly the same from it but they weren't exactly different. The only person that was greatly effected, agreed by all who knew him, was the Captain. He'd been more affected than he'd ever care to admit.

"...condolences, Captain. I have heard of your mother and father and their great deeds." Jahasa said.

"Thank you. Well when life decides to be a bitch, it'll be a bitch." Kirk smirked sadly.

"I concur. My own parents were lost in a much similar situation."

After the transfusion, he'd gained enhanced strength, speed, memory, healing abilities and an instantaneous knowledge of hand-to-hand combat skills. He basically gained everything Khan had but on a slightly lesser scale. He was now able to match Spock neck and neck for everything. Those were the slightly positive effects, the unfortunate effects was that he'd been killed himself; lost Pike, his mentor and father figure; and his mother who had unfortunately been killed when Khan's ship had crash coursed for the city. She went there right after hearing about Pike's death and just got there when Admiral Marcus and Khan's ship crashed.

"...two weeks of recovery apparently. And the ships were both damaged so severely. I'm surprised the_ Enterprise_ was able to be fixed."

"Ah, the things to be thankful for."

Jim had been crushed when he'd heard about it. It had taken him two months to stop his grieving and within those two months he'd resigned his position as Captain, quit Star Fleet, gotten dangerously drunk more than a few times, disappeared off the radar, and wouldn't talk to anyone the entire time. Within that time Spock had been promoted to Captain, used various contacts to try to find Kirk, refused various missions and thankfully for him, they had all gotten six months of leave anyways so every crew member was out looking for the damned man. The _Enterprise_ was undergoing major repairs and in the meantime, upgrades. It was getting better battle shields and amo along with advanced warp capabilities, all due to the fact that out of every other Federation Star Ship, they seemed to have been tossed into the deep end of a shit pool and sunk in it. In those first two months, Spock learned several things all centered around Jim:

1.) If Jim-fucking-Kirk didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be fucking found.

2.) Nobody on the _Enterprise_ could function properly without Jim.

3.) Jim grows on everyone, no matter who they are unless they were one of the people Jim ignored.

4.) He could not function properly without Jim in any part of his mind.

5.) Without Jim, the Federation would be screwed over, several times.

Spock had managed to find Kirk eventually, but Kirk had actually recognized a crew mate and came out of hiding, thus back on the radar. Spock had gotten to the small town as soon as he could and when he found Kirk sitting at a bar, he was only slightly surprised to find out the human had been waiting for him. Kirk had looked like he'd been dragged through a meat grinder, been patched up, then got ran over by a steam roller, several times each in rapid succession.

"...we had to climb up a damn three hundred or so foot cliff just to reach ground level from the canyon we'd been teleported into then..."

There'd been dark circles under his red and slightly puffy eyes, his hair looked like it hadn't been properly brushed in weeks and was sticking up everywhere, he looked thinner and that fact was supported by his clothes which were too loose on him. He was pale and his eyes had a lifeless, haunted look that supported the rest of his look to make him look like his life had gone down the tubes and into the sewer and he was thus a wandering drunk. Spock knew that before Kirk had been revived, he'd sustained several broken, cracked and bruised ribs; sprained and broken limbs; a major concussion; and severe bruising and internal bleeding. Nothing had been undamaged and not everything had been fully repaired before Kirk had disappeared.

"...our doctor, Dr. McCoy, had to end up giving me his substitute hyposprays just to stop the swelling. I'm allergic to a majority of medicines, vaccines and a lot of foods and so he has to come up with things that won't trigger an allergic reaction. Yet another thing I got from my dad." Kirk was explaining with an amused grin.

"That sounds most stressful." Jahasa said.

Spock had stopped behind Kirk at the bar and waited for the man to acknowledge him. He knew Kirk sensed him because his posture was tense but only a trained eye could see it. When Kirk finally sighed he set down his drink and said clearly enough for Spock to hear, _"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to sit down and order a drink?"_

His voice was flat and as Spock sat down he took a swig of his own drink, a nice calming herbal tea. Spock sat down and as if in a mutual agreement, neither looked at each other.

_"You know why I'm here Captain."_ Spock said.

_"No."_ Kirk had said to the unsaid.

Kirk knew Spock wanted him back on the _Enterprise_. He'd heard it from his crew mate as they'd pleaded with him to join the Fleet again and become the Captain. They said there was nothing wrong with Spock as the Captain but everyone could tell even Spock didn't exactly want the position. Kirk had been slightly surprised to find out that Spock refused missions and forbid everyone from calling him Captain. Sulu had been promoted to First Commander but he remained at his station as helmsman, sending his replacement into a hissy fit. Spock wouldn't sit in the Chair but he would stand ram-rod straight behind it. Nobody would be able to correctly focus on anything and he'd been told that the ship felt empty even though there were a few hundred people aboard the ship. Dozens of them replacements for those lost.

_"Captain-"_ Spock started but was cut off by Kirk's immediate, _"Not the Captain, Captain."_

Their mutual agreement to not look at each other broke when they both looked at each other. Kirk could read Spock better than anyone else and that was a known fact. How that was possible was a mystery to both but it was also a mystery how Spock could also see through Kirk. They knew each other better than a mother and her child, a pair of best friends, even a married couple of fifty years and a pair of twins sharing the same brain. They could read each other with surprising accuracy. They knew what each other was feeling, thinking and what they would say before the words left their mouths, yet they were polar opposites. Where Spock was logical, organized, reserved and polite, Kirk was illogical, messy, crazy/outgoing and bordering on rude sometimes. Kirk could see the hidden concern, worry and frustration in the depths of Spock's dark eyes but he refused to give in.

_"Captain," _Spock stubbornly repeated,_ "Your resigning from the Fleet has influenced many lives. There are a certain number of cadets who have resigned as soon as word spread that you had resigned and I will admit that nothing has been the same since."_

_"Not my problem."_ Kirk shrugged off.

_"Yes, it is your problem."_ Spock insisted.

From there it was a fight that after two hours Kirk finally gave in and promised to try and re-enlist in the Fleet but he mumbled that they wouldn't take him back. Spock argued the opposite and that started another fight but thankfully it did not last as long as the first. First thing in the morning found them both standing back in the ruins of the city where Jim was tensed so much it was surprising that he hadn't broken any of his bones or popped a blood vessel. The Fleet had immediately welcomed him back and he got praise and sympathies from everyone.

"...continued the mission but we lost some people." Jim was saying.

Now, a year later the _Enterprise_ had succeeded in over twenty missions with fascinating results and relatively quick times. Nothing was ever quite simple with Jim Kirk as Captain but throughout those twenty plus missions, only about ten had lost their lives. One had gotten caught in an explosion, one had flew out of a space hatch, two had been shot down by Klingons, four had been sucked out of the ship when the damaged walls had given in and the last two had been crushed by heavy equipment. Each one was a painful blow for the Captain and everyone knew it. The two crushed by the equipment had happened on their last mission and when that situation was over, Kirk had been so exhausted he'd fallen asleep in the Captain's Chair on the bridge and didn't wake up for another fifteen hours. He'd gotten a few cracked ribs, slight and un-fatal internal bleeding, bruised organs, and a cut on his forehead from the fighting he'd done. Spock had carried him to the medbay after noticing him asleep. He remained dead to the world through varying degrees of shaking, pinching, harmless slapping and yelling, thus Spock carried him.

"...the Admirals sent us over to go retrieve the cargo..." Kirk said in the background of Spock's thoughts.

Two weeks later they found themselves on a small planet with humanoid beings but were stronger and they each had something different about them. Their ear would be pointed, small, large or there would be none at all. Their eyes would be wider or narrower or different colors. They would have tails or spikes growing from their bodies. Or their body parts would be different colors. There was only one thing that marked that they were the same race, their toungs. Their toungs were an odd blue color with an equally odd symbol burned into them. Jahasa had crimson red and royal blue hair with an amber left eye and a green right eye. He had three extra fingers and three legs and feet and the tell-tale mark of his race on his oddly blue toung. Through his thoughts Spock was able to stop walking when he realized Kirk and Jahasa were going to stop.

"I fear it is time I must go." Jahasa sighed, "There is a gathering I must attend to but for now, farewell and I will see you before you leave."

"Then we will see you soon. Bye." Kirk said and Jahasa left them. "Don't you love getting to meet new people, Spock?" Jim asked with a soft smile.

"It contributes to a wider knowledge of interactions between life forms." Spock answered and got a look from the blond.

"Seriously? You get a day off duty and that is all you think about?" Kirk asked.

"Negative. I am having a mental debate concerning one of my latest experiments as well as thinking of the various upcoming reports needed to be written." Spock said.

"My God." Kirk sighed.

"I was not aware you were religious, Captain." Spock quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm not. It's an expression." Spock nodded.

"An expression commonly used." Spock observed sorting through his memories of various crew members exclaiming that exact expression.

"Yep." Kirk agreed.

"Such as "oh shit", "oh my fucking God" and "shit hit the fan"?" Spock asked.

Jim stood looking at him for approximately 1.282977 minutes withb a blank face. Spock merely raised his pointy eyebrow. That was what triggered Jim to crack a smile and let a little laugh escape his lips.

"You should joke more often." Jim smiled, Spock only raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose it is time we head back to the ship, Captain." Spock suggested looking at the setting sun.

"Jim." Jim said instantly and as they headed back toward the _Enterprise_. "I suppose so."

They noticed the lack of the planet's inhabitants as they walked back and the ones they did see were scrambling and running to get home. This fact concerned them as they walked on. One man they saw was running their direction but once he saw them and registered them as not from the planet, he scrambled their way.

"You shouldn't be out at this time of night, sirs." He said looking around nervously.

"Why?" Jim asked completely confused.

"There are creatures that will eat you if they see you. They are strong but not strong enough to take down any of our homes or your ship. I must insist you come with me or consider running back to your ship." The man answered.

"We'll go back to our ship. Safe travels sir." Jim said.

"Same to you sirs." The man said and jumped as the roar of an animal interrupted the night. "That's it! One of the creatures! Run!" And the man was gone leaving a metaphorical dust cloud in his wake.

"Scotty, two to beam up." Jim said into his communicator quickly.

As they were engulfed in swirling golden lights they saw the outline of a creature the size of a Earth bear but with a long barbed tail and sharp claws on each of its arms and legs. It was running fast and furious toward them and unfortunately, the transporter seemed to want to go slow that night. In the mile between them and the creature, it covered it with amazing speed and was on them in mere seconds. It instantly jumped on Kirk and he was thrown back. Spock instantly pulled out his phaser and shot at the creature but there was no effect. The creature merely reared back and was about to squash Kirk when the transporter whisked them away. When Spock had his sight back he saw Jim on the floor of the transporter pad and instantly rushed to his side. Jim's breathing was slightly harsh and there was the look of pain on his face. There was a cut on his forehead vertical to his hairline, and it was bleeding pretty bad. Jim was still conscious but when his breathing didn't calm and he didn't move Spock knew instantly something was wrong. Broken bones most likely and slight shock with a small concussion and confusion. Spock knew enough not to move Jim unless he wanted to risk paralyzing him.

"What on Earth happened?!" Uhura asked startled as she took in the sight before her.

"We were attacked by a creature." Spock answered. "Someone call for Doctor McCoy."

Spock lent over Jim and looked into his eyes. They were slightly unfocused but showed his pain.

"Captain. Captain. Can you hear me?" Spock called out to him.

"Mmmmm...Sp'ck?" Jim managed.

"Right here Captain." Spock said with internal relief.

"J'm." Jim said instantly.

"Jim." Spock amended.

"What did you do?" McCoy's voice asked Jim as he ran into the room with a few other medical personnel.

"N'thn." Jim mumbled as McCoy passed his tricorder over Jim, and frowned at the results.

"Concussion, four broken ribs and shock. How on Earth did you manage that?" McCoy said.

"M'nstr." Jim breathed.

"He was attacked by an unknown creature." Spock clarified.

"How big was it?" McCoy asked.

"As big as what I believe is a Terran bear." Spock said.

"Well, that'll do it. Was he jumped on?"

"Affirmative." Spock gave a sharp nod.

"One syllable is needed to answer that. Yes." McCoy said and they lifted Jim onto a stretcher.

They quickly relocated to the medbay where they had to perform some minor surgery for Jim's ribs. Spock paced outside of the surgery room with Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, and Scotty sitting restlessly against the walls of the room. They were, fortunately off, duty when Spock and Jim had been beamed up. Jim's injuries weren't fatal but that didn't stop them from being nervous and worried. They'd been informed that if one of the broken ribs had moved four millimeters further then it would have punctured his lungs. Uhura, even though she'd been in a relationship with Spock, could not read him at all. The only thing she could manage to figure out was that Spock was frustrated and thinking hard. She would admit to being jealous when Jim was able to read the Vulcan easily while she couldn't. She remembered the time she found out Jim was able to read Spock.

(_Flashback_)

_"Spock, for God's sake! I can't understand you if you don't tell me how you're feeling. I know you have emotions! You might be Vulcan but you're also God-damned human as well." Uhura said as she and Spock were walking down one of the many corridors of the_ Enterprise_._

_"He's frustrated and irritated." Kirk said passing in the opposite direction while looking at a PADD and eating an apple._

_ Uhura spun around and stared after Jim as he walked away eating his apple and looking like there was nothing wrong with the world. He was completely oblivious to Uhura's incredulous stare, or at least she thought so. Jim knew she was staring at him, his smirk told everyone._

_"I believe the Captain is correct in his observations." Spock said emotionless._

_"Stop staring." Kirk said._

_ Uhura was taken aback. How Kirk knew she was staring at him without looking was shocking her even more than she was. The fact that he'd known how Spock was feeling and she didn't absolutely baffled her._

(_End_)

She'd tried looking for reoccurring signs that Spock gave when he was experiencing an emotion but the effort was fruitless. Kirk had told her there were small signs when she'd asked him about it but she'd had no luck picking out those signs. She was a person with a talent for languages and body language was one of them but Spock could be emotionless even with is body. There was only the frustration and deep thinking that she could pick out. The others she could read easily, they were open books for her, except for Kirk. He was about as emotionless as Spock when he wanted to be and he could hide his emotions easily. She'd been asked to aid in understanding his mental state when he'd been fully revived.

She and the others had become fiercely protective of him after his death, they didn't want a repeat. Kirk had brought them together, all of them. He'd brought Scotty back with him from Delta Vega, helped Sulu and Nyota countless times with her xenolinguistics and his science experiments, acted like a teenager with Chekov, softened hypo-happy Bones and made a connection with Spock. She was surprised both were oblivious to what the bond was exactly. It wasn't even friendship, it was stronger. They were genius' in everything except love apparently.

And considering the fact that they'd gotten the award and record of Most Times Getting Hitched In Six Months for Earth's records and Star Federation's records. People accidentally got engaged and officially married so many times that the Federation just ignored that as an official thing and started making records for it. Kirk and Spock broke that record by twice the previous number one record. That would make 44 times getting hitched in six months compared to the 22 times of the last record holder(s) for a year. The party the fleet had thrown after announcing the record was one hell of a party. And so many people had gotten drunk enough to not remember most of what had happened by the following morning. Kirk and Spock had actually disappeared at some point and were the only people to recall exactly everything that had happened since they'd ended up going to play chess.

Some people were just wondering when the two actually would get hitched for real and there was even a betting pool on it that even some of the Admirals had betted in. There were thousands of credits on the line and Scotty along with a majority of the crew had already lost. Of course Spock and Jim were oblivious to everything about it.

She and everyone else saw how the two managed to break each other's emotional barriers just by stepping into the room. How they knew when each other was joking when everyone else remained confused (more Kirk knowing when Spock was joking than the reverse since Kirk was always joking). How they could read each other with just a glance and despite their almost constant bickering, they balanced each other out. What they had was unexplainable but also undeniable; they were meant for each other. That was part of the reason she'd ended her relationship with Spock. She'd noticed their relationship failing and Jim and Spock's strengthening. They were still friends even though they'd broken it off. The group had been waiting anxiously for about an hour when Bones stepped out of the room in scrubs covered in blood.

"He'll live. The ribs were a bit closer to his lungs than I'd thought but he'll be fine. The rest of this week though he'll be sore and a bit more tired than usual but in a few days he should be fine. Just don't let him go on one of his escapades." Bones said.

"We'll be here for two more days and then we'll be in deep space for a week." Sulu informed everyone.

"Perfect." Bones said.

"Can ve zee him?" Pavel asked.

"Be quiet." Bones said with the unsaid, "Or I'll throw you out, literally."

The group got up and were led through med bay to a private room where their Captain lay, paler than usual and not smiling but alive. His breathing was calm and soft but the monitors showed that his brain activity was high. He was either having an action-packed dream or he was subconsciously thinking.

"His brain activity always like that?" Scotty asked.

"More recently than ever but it's always been high." Bones said.

"More recently?" Spock asked in an emotionless tone.

"Last few weeks." Bones said. "Anymore that I tell you will be disobeying my oath as a doctor. Patient confidentiality."

Spock thought about the last few weeks. Kirk had looked constantly exhausted, stressed and slightly irritated. He was careful to hide it though, always smiling around people with his sarcastic and witty remarks. Of course no one would suspect anything, if they didn't know what to look for anyways. Spock had sensed a change in Kirk's behavior and once he began to study the man, the signs had been obvious. He'd tried to address it to Kirk during one of their chess games but he'd been brushed off. As if on cue, Kirk's vitals skyrocketed and his body jerked. Bones and Spock were instantly at his side to hold him down and keep him still, trying to wake him up to no avail.

"Jim God-dammit! Wake up!" Bones shouted in Kirk's ear.

"Nightmare?" Sulu asked hoping it was a dream instead of something even worse.

"Yeah." Bones confirmed.

Kirk continued to sleep through his nightmare and when it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon, Spock did the most surprising thing ever. He put his hand on Kirk's face and instantly his eyes closed as he focused. The blond immediately stopped spasming and relaxed. Spock stood stalk still for a minute or two before he began swaying. Sulu quickly grabbed his chair and slid it over just as Spock's knees buckled. He stayed in the mind-meld though and as the minutes passed, nothing happened. Kirk's vitals had returned to normal and Spock continued to look emotionless. They eventually resulted to pacing while waiting for Spock to disengage the meld.

* * *

I would really love for anyone to review this. It's my first fic and an experiment. If you are going to write something please don't be rude. Tell me your likes and dislikes and you can PM me if you want but reviews would be nice please.

-ARA


	2. Dreams

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Spock was falling. He opened his eyes to see that he really was falling and the ground was coming up quickly. He was slightly confused because he wasn't exactly sure whether he was in Jim's mind or if he was in reality and the ship had been attacked while he'd tried to meld with Jim, thus the falling but where the planet had come from or what it was was a complete mystery. Dreams were sometimes just as strong as reality, making distinguishing them an extremely huge pain in the ass. In the seconds he had while falling, he managed to see that he was falling into a forest, dead and charred black by floor of the forest was desert dirt and charred grass patches, covered with sticks. The sky was dark from stormy clouds while thunder and dry lightning completed the scene.

He snapped his eyes shut just as he was about to hit the ground, waiting for the painful and most likely killer impact. When after ten seconds he neither felt the impact or pain, he opened his eyes to realize he was just floating above the ground, like the opposing sides of two magnets. He just stared at the ground not knowing how to get up if he couldn't touch it. This had never happened before to him, in all his telepathic experiences he'd never fallen directly into the person's thought or dream and never quite literally. Additionally there'd never been a time where he wasn't able to connect with the floor of the thought or dream.

It only took him 7 .3683 seconds to overcome his initial shock and confirm that facing the ground would get him nowhere close to finishing his task of helping Jim. He tested trying to put his hands on the ground but there was an invisible force that pushed him away. He looked up from the ground to look around when that didn't work and immediately he started to float upright. Instinctively he put his hands out to his sides for balance as he rose slowly to an upright position. Once he was upright he looked down to see that he still wasn't touching the ground and was contemplating if this was how all human minds worked or if this was just how Jim's mind worked.

Either way he was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of running. He looked up and saw children ranging from at least five to thirteen running with fear in their eyes and expressions. They were dirty and thin and there were only about twenty of them. One of them stood out to Spock though. The boy was roughly fourteen with blond hair, intense blue eyes and was carrying two children on each of his shoulders. He was obviously the leader of the group as he kept shouting at them to keep running, don't stop.

Spock could hear gunshots and people screaming from the direction the children were running from. He could smell blood and smoke. The children ran right at him and since he hadn't had the time to figure out how to move he braced himself to be run into but he ended up getting ran _through_ instead. They didn't see him or feel him as they ran through his body apparently but the blond boy did. Instantly the dark forest, dark sky, smoke, blood, screams and children melted away to nothing but a void of black. The children the boy was carrying faded away as well and the boy grew as he ran. Spock was only slightly surprised it was Jim and instantly he knew that he was on Tarsus, or the memory of it anyways. Of course he knew about Tarsus IV, the history and the only survivors of it. Jim stopped when he reached Spock.

"Spock?" He asked.

"Jim." Spock said.

"Are you part of my dream?" Jim asked confused.

"No. I had to perform a mind-meld after your nightmares started to affect you. I must say this is an interesting new experience for me. In all honesty I'd only been intending to calm your mind, not enter it." Spock said and Jim could see how sorry and guilty Spock felt about that.

"Thanks." Jim said quietly.

"Exactly how long have these nightmares been going on for?" Spock asked raising his "no shit" eyebrow.

"At least a month." Jim said reluctantly.

"Are they always the same or do they range?"

"They range from different things yeah." Jim said quietly.

"Let us sit and converse for a bit shall we?" Spock suggested and Jim complied.

Instantly upon sitting he realized that Spock wasn't even on the ground and was just floating there. Spock pulled his legs up to sit Indian style and thankfully he didn't drop instantly but he did slowly float down. Unfortunately he _still_ did not touch the ground.

"Why...?" Jim started to ask.

"I haven't the faintest idea. Again this is an entirely different experience for me. Usually during a light meld I would just barely know your emotions and thoughts, then I would dig for your other thoughts and dreams. This time though, I started out falling. And now I cannot touch what is provided for a floor or anchor." Spock explained.

"Have you melded with a human before?" Jim asked.

"Properly, no. The only other human I'd attempted a meld with had been Admiral Pike but as he was dying there was only his surface emotions. I could not dig any deeper into his mind than a slight brush of the mind." Spock admitted.

"Not even Uhura?" Jim asked incredulously.

"Neither her nor anyone else aside from my family members and Pike."

"So I'm your first." Jim stated rather than asked.

"Correct. To get back to the point of the conversation, what topics have your nightmares included?"

"Well there's my fucked up family," Jim said rather reluctantly, "Tarsus as you just witnessed and yes I know you know about that. There's the week of dealing with Nero and the _Narada_ and then there's Khan. He keeps appearing and I can't control anything."

"Elaborate." Spock simply said.

"Which part?"

"All."

Jim internally warred with himself but he knew Spock could just tap his thoughts, unfortunately. The only good thing was that he could tell someone he trusted with his life. Of course he trusted the rest of his crew but Spock had gained his absolute trust. They'd formed a strong bond of friendship that was as strong as his bond with McCoy, probably stronger.

"When I was yo-" Jim started but was interrupted.

"Oh, story time is it?" A smooth, deep voice interrupted.

Both Spock and Jim spun around to see Khan standing ten feet way from them in an all black outfit including his trench coat, with his hair slicked back and a smirk on his face. Jim and Spock stood up instantly, Spock still floating. Khan approached them at a leisurely pace and they backed up with each step.

"Oh don't be so frightened. I don't bite." Khan smirked, his eyes gleaming.

Suddenly he was in front of Spock and before Spock could react, Khan punched him in the face, sending him flying twenty feet away.

"Spock!" Jim shouted and ran to his friend.

Spock had half-fallen but straightened up once the initial shock was over. Feeling something on his upper lip he used his fingers to determine what it was and when he looked at his fingers, they were coated green. Vulcan blood. Jim was running to him but before he could move, Khan was blocking the way. Jim hadn't stopped in time to avoid running into Khan so he was surprised when his waist was grabbed as he ran into the Wall of Khan.

"Hey!" Jim shouted as he tried to pry Khan's arms from around him but Khan's grip was like steel.

Jim couldn't get Khan to release him so he started punching and kicking him. The next thing he knew was that he was being tossed to the side as Spock tackled Khan. They rolled on the ground wrestling for minutes. They threw punches and used complex combat skills. They dodged and struck each other and Jim was helpless because his strength was no match for either Khan's or Spock's strength, even with the boost of the blood transfusion effects. Plus he'd just end up getting in Spock's way since he seemed to be winning. The next few seconds happened so fast Jim hadn't even processed it until minutes after it happened. Spock had forcefully palmed where Khan's heart was, then his forehead and karate chopped where his neck met his collar bone (this move is something made up, I'm not even sure how a meld works entirely). Khan disappeared after one last glare at Spock and one last look at Jim, with golden light enveloping him. Jim blinked and Khan was gone. The look Khan had given him was full of so many emotions he wasn't sure of any of them.

"What the hell was that?" Jim asked still looking at the spot Khan had disappeared from.

"A technique used to make any unwanted being cease to interfere with the dream state of the host." Spock answered.

"Thanks. Is it permanent?"

"Unfortunately, no." Spock answered. "Does he occur often?"

"Almost every night." Jim sighed.

"Why have you not informed me? You are fully aware of my telepathic capabilities. I could have aided you beforehand." Spock said.

"I...I know, Spock. I know. I just didn't want to cause any trouble." Jim said quietly, looking down at the suddenly interesting ground.

"There would be no trouble at all. I am free most nights unless one of my experiments needs tending to." Spock said then after a few seconds of silence added, "Tell me the real reason why you decided not to inform anyone aside from Doctor McCoy."

"Why don't you just dig in my head. You're here already." Jim said with a guarded tone.

"I would but the ensuing fight between our minds could damage your brain function. Cripple you beyond repair." Spock said.

"What? My human mind too much for a Vulcan?" Jim asked mockingly to both of them.

"My telepathic capabilities are strong for a hybrid, stronger than most other telepathic full-blooded Vulcan. I would not attempt to go through your mind when your shields are up and I would not attempt to fight you, unless you'd rather me leave you crippled." Spock explained.

Jim sighed and started pacing. He didn't want to tell Spock but he didn't want to be crippled either. Maybe he could tell a small part of the truth instead of the entire truth.

"There's too much going on right now anyways. I didn't want to disturb anyone and I didn't want pity. The Fleet would admit me to the psych ward of med bay and a whole new set of problems would've occurred." Jim said.

Spock seemed to accept that answer after a few minutes of thoughtful silence. Jim noticed Spock was standing straight with his hands behind his back and his green blood still running down his face. As Spock thought, Jim could see that there were some things that were troubling him. To any other person Spock would just be thinking. To Jim, he could read the tense set of his shoulders, slightly furrowed eyebrows, rigid posture and firm set of the mouth. Spock had realized something bad, Jim knew instantly, he just didn't know what was bad.

"I believe we should return to consciousness." Spock said finally and nodded at Jim.

Spock was engulfed in golden lights that swirled around him as if he was being beamed away. Then Jim was being beamed as well. He slowly became aware that he was waking up very slowly. When he could, he opened his eyes.

* * *

Life is a bitch, as well as school. Fact, not opinion.

~ARA


	3. Dawning

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Everyone noticed when Spock's hand slipped away from it's position on Jim's face. It was impossible not to notice when they'd been watching and waiting for any movement from either of them that wasn't distressed for over two hours. The only things that had them worried was the fact that Jim's brain activity and heart rate had increased/spiked to dangerous levels and Spock's nose had begun to bleed for no reason. Eventually Spock's nose bleed had stopped and Jim's heart rate and brain activity went back to normal so now everyone was just waiting. Bones and Scotty were pacing. Sulu and Chekov were talking quietly and Nyota was sitting and trying to distract herself by reciting every language and a few phrases in her mind.

When Spock's hand was removed from Jim's face everyone looked to the pair at the biobed. Jim's eyes were fluttering open and Spock was sitting ram-rod straight with an emotionless mask still. Bone's handed Spock a tissue as his nose had started to bleed slightly once more and ran his tricorder over him as Spock dabbed at his nose. Both he and Jim were quiet and no one else made a sound. There were ten seconds of slightly tense, strained and complete silence.

Then all at once Bones started asking medical questions, Sulu and Chekov were wondering what happened, Scotty was making comments to try to lighten the mood and Nyota was just about to mother hen the two when Spock held up his hand for silence, never once losing his silent stoicness. Once everyone had calmed down Spock and Jim looked at each other, both stoic and had a silent conversation. Then at once they blinked at each other and looked at the rest of their group.

"Khan is back." Was all Spock said causing a stunned silence.

Even Jim looked surprised. Spock's one sentence repeated itself in each of their minds. They were reminded painfully of the lives lost and destruction in that battle. Even the after events were painful. Jim's mother flashed in each of their minds. Pike as well as a few other of their friends that they'd lost. Then everyone started asking how and when at the same time.

"We don't know." Jim rasped over them all.

"But how do you know he is back? And are you sure?" Sulu asked.

"While we were conducting the meld Khan appeared. There was a certain...strength that would only appear if he was active. If he was just apart of Jim's dream then he would've been easy to control." Spock explained.

"Voulden't zee Fleet varn uz about zat if Khan had escaped?" Pavel asked.

"Ah highly doubt it, lad." Scotty said.

"I must agree with Mr. Scott on that matter. The Fleet would not warn us about that unless we weren't being played into something." Spock said.

"But what would we be playing into?" Nyota asked.

"...chess..." Jim breathed.

"I see your point." Spock said after a second of thought.

"What point?" Bones asked.

"Jim has compared us and the _Enterprise_ to a game of chess. We are the game pieces." Spock explained.

"And both Khan and the Fleet are the players." Sulu said catching on.

"We'll be nowhere but in deep space for the next three weeks." Nyota stated then asked, "What are they planning with us in the middle of nowhere?"

"Var." Pavel said after a moment of intense thought.

"Then tha' musta mean Khan managed ta free his crew also." Scotty said.

"A crew of superhumans." Bones said.

"Spock..." Jim breathed.

Spock and Jim had another silent conversation before Spock nodded. Nobody had a clue on what the silent conversations were about but that was all Nyota needed to prove that the bond between Jim and Spock was strong.

"By God man, we can't understand you." Bones nearly shouted.

"Jim has a plan." Spock said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well...?" Nyota asked after Spock didn't explain the plan.

"You will find out along the way." Spock said.

"You're not sacrificing yourself again." Bones said immediately, Jim, who in turn rolled his eyes.

"Calm down doctor. If all goes accordingly, no one will need to sacrifice themselves." Spock said.

"And when do any of his plans go accordingly?" Bones retorted.

Spock looked back at Jim who all but blinked at him and then turned back to McCoy, who had his usual grumpy face on.

"The Captain resents those words and he wishes to rhetorically ask about your faith in him." Spock said.

"I have none to very little faith in him." Bones deadpanned.

"Creepy." Sulu sang/whispered to Chekov who nodded in agreement.

"He would also like to point out that while he may not be able to talk for the time being, that doesn't mean he can't hear you." Spock said, directed at Pavel and Sulu.

Spock looked back at Jim and their silent conversation was long. Both of their faces and body language were emotionless and they seemed to communicate with the smallest of movements. Like sign language. That was Nyota's observation at least. Finally Spock looked back at everyone.

"Status report?" Spock asked, if he was human they would have sworn he was sighing.

"Ship is in tip-top shape, da crew 're fine, e'rythin is fine." Scotty said.

Jim managed a thumbs up and then started to drift off to sleep. Bones tugged a light blanket over him and then everyone started to leave. Bones was in the middle of preparing some hyposprays when he realized that there was a silent presence still in the room aside from him and Jim. He turned around expecting either one of the nurses or one of the crew but what he wasn't expecting was Spock still sitting in the chair beside Jim and staring off into space. Bones didn't know what to say but he could sense worry surrounding Spock.

"Spock." Bones said softly but Spock didn't stir.

Bones repeated Spock's name several times but Spock was too deep in his thoughts to hear him. Bones finally got annoyed after the eighth time of repeating Spock's name and decided to clap his hands in the Vulcan's face. Spock didn't jump but he did blink and look at Bones.

"Spock, what're ya thinkin' bout?" Bones asked softly.

"I accidentally drifted into the memory of...losing Jim." Spock admitted quietly after slight hesitation.

Bones remembered that Spock had a perfect memory which was as much of a blessing as it was a curse. While he would eventually forget some details of Jim's death, Spock would not. There were many people who would kill for a perfect memory but they had no idea of the consequences of remembering with perfect detail of everything they ever heard or saw and the consequences were much harsher in the Federation, where everyone knew of at least one friend who had been killed in the line of duty. It was one of those things that no matter how much Bones hated a person, he would never wish a memory like that upon a person. To remember the gory details of a friend's death would be torture, or if it was family. It would be enough to drive a man to the point of insanity. Unfortunately Spock wasn't the only one with a perfect eidetic memory, Jim was victim to it as well, poor bastard.

"Been there, done that." Bones sighed.

He'd been having dreams every so often about Jim's death. To say he'd been wide awake the following day with a good mood would be a complete lie. He would get little sleep those nights and would be in the worst of moods. Only Jim being around him would be able to fix that.

"What happened in Jim's dream?" Bones asked.

"I'd quite literally fallen into Jim's memory accidentally instead of just finding his emotions. His mind does not work like any other I've encountered." Bones snorted at that. "I'm not sure that you are aware of this but he was-"

"In Tarsus IV? Yeah, he told me a few months after we'd first started at the academy. Told me just to let me know about his nightmares that were violent and how to deal with it." Bones interrupted.

"He was running with a group of children but his dream changed slightly when he recognized me there. We had a slight conversation as he was conscious in the dream but Khan appeared when I was getting him to tell me about the nightmares he'd been having as of late. He was telling me the corresponding parts of his history. Khan's presence there was strong, apparently strong enough that when he punched me, I bled in the real world as well as in the dream world. That was one of the factors that solidified my suspicions. There is no possible way for a dream entity to cause physical damage from the dream world to reality. Somehow Khan is invading Jim's mind." Spock explained.

"And you think there's several motives for Khan's return." Bones said after a few seconds of processing that information.

"Affirmative. Khan's actions in the dream world were...odd to say the least." Spock said.

"How so?" Bones asked only able to think that Khan would be vicious and violent which would not be odd considering he was a genetically engineered psycho superhuman.

"His actions were violent to me as you saw, but his actions toward Jim were...posessive. He'd wrapped his arms around Jim and the look he'd given him was...predatory." Spock explained with slight confusion and incomprehension.

Bones instantly knew what those observations meant, and he was scared shitless for Jim. Catching the eye of a psychotic and violent superhuman was not the best thing for Jim to possibly do.

"We need to keep Jim away from Khan." Bones said.

"Agreed," Spock for "no shit, dumbass", "but you seem to have an understanding of what Khan's actions in the dream implied." Spock said obviously wanting Bones to explain to him.

"You can't be serious." Bones said dryly in disbelief but only got the Vulcan's blank stare in return. "It means Khan fell for Jim somehow or somethin' but if he gets 'hold of the _Enterprise_ he'll kill everyone else 'side from Jim. And Jim won't just be sitting around locked in someone's quarters."

Spock seemed to get the meaning of that but Bones could tell there was still something bothering the Vulcan. Something he couldn't quite place but he eventually chalked it up to confusion and something else, two hidden emotions he couldn't pinpoint.

"What's the plan?" Bones asked.

"You will find out." Spock replied absentmindedly before standing up and swiftly making his way out of the med bay.

Bones stared after the half-Vulcan with pity, confusion and irritation. It was just as Spock left that Bones was able to figure out that the unidentified/hidden emotion was jealousy and Spock's own possessiveness. If only the two weren't so blind. Everyone saw how Spock and Jim were so oblivious to everything but seriously. For two geniuses they sure were stupid when matters concerned love.

* * *

Please review!

~ARA


	4. Revelations

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

A week after Jim's unfortunate meeting with the creature and his nightmare, he and Spock were in the Captain's conference room waiting for Star Fleet Command to open up a channel. There were a few words that needed to be said. They'd been waiting for five minutes before the channel opened up and every admiral was at the conference table. The sight that greeted the admirals was of the Captain and the First Officer standing emotionless side-by-side with their hands behind their backs and standing impeccably straight. Despite the fact that Spock's slightly taller and darker figure was more intimidating, Jim's eyes seemed to be glowing and his stance, aside from mirroring the Vulcan's, was braced for a fight and was almost as intimidating.

"Captain Kirk, Commander Spock. What have you called us for?" Admiral Barnett asked.

"Well for one thing I wanted to add to our record of accidentally getting hitched again." Jim said earning a few chuckles but he didn't smile unlike every other time he'd announced the accidental marriages.

"You called us all here for that?" A new Admiral asked, not amused by the announcement.

"Oh, no. I just wanted to let you know. You know, incase it was something important, you'd like to know if something was important wouldn't you?" Jim asked emotionless.

"Of course but I don't see getting married as important unless it was for real this time." Another new Admiral said.

"Then give me a few examples of important matters." Jim said.

Both Jim and Spock could see that a few of the Admirals were getting impatient and irritated while a few others were confused and a few others were nervous. It was no secret that both Jim and Spock had contacts at each planet that were willing to update them on the things the Federation wouldn't but the contacts were fortunately(unfortunate for the Admirals) unknown to the Admirals and everyone else aside from themselves and the contact.

"Kirk, we don't have time for games. If you don't tell us something of actual significance then we'll see you when your next mission comes up." Admiral Barnett said as one of the few who was irritated and impatient.

"OK. Tell Khan and his crew we said "Hi" and welcome back to the waking world." Jim said with a knowing smile that didn't reach his ice-cold eyes and a shrug.

That froze every Admiral in the room instantly. The majority stared at Kirk in horror and were sporting the "deer in the headlights" look while the rest were staring in panic. They were stunned. Nobody except them and the containment unit knew about the Breakout, capital because catastrophe would occur before the rogue crew was brought back. Jim gave a small smug smile at knowing that their discovery was correct.

"How did you know about that?" Admiral Barnett asked.

"Why would you not think to inform us about it?" Spock asked back crossing his arms.

"They broke out six weeks ago and killed every person in their path. They successfully managed to board one of the decommissioned ships and took off with it. Sorry if it slipped our minds." Admiral Archer said.

"I'm not in the mood for that, so I'm gonna call bullshit. Complete bullshit. We're not stupid, we know you're playing a game here. And the _Enterprise_ is the bait." Jim said glaring.

"There is no ga-"

"Bullshit!" Jim shouted interrupting Admiral Barnett. "Ya know what? I'm tired of you Admirals not informing me of things. I might be young but when matters like Khan are not discussed between you and me I'm gonna get pissed. You're no better than Marcus. He played everyone in his games, and threatened innocent people for a fuckin war!"

Thankfully they'd cleared that up with the Klingons after three weeks of interrogations, trials, and negotiations. Jim had been to every thing on his own accord, not because he had to. Spock went with him of course.

"How am I supposed to prepare my crew? We're in frikin deep space here. Anything could happen and we wouldn't even have a heads up because nobody thought to notify us. Have you even given a thought to the actual _passengers_ on board? Because I'm pretty sure there's two Ambassadors and several of your own family members on. And because of you guys changing the mission last minute everyone is stuck on board in _deep space_ where again, we're unprepared." Jim shouted.

"Calm yourself Captain." Admiral Komack said with a hint of a threat at the end.

"Or what? You'll demote me? Well go ahead. We'll all be dead in a matter of days or weeks if Khan is really after us. Even your daughter. So no worries." Jim said.

"Jim." Spock said and Jim visibly took a calming breath.

Komack didn't look the least bit concerned. Considering the fact that he'd be rid of Jim then there was no surprise. He just thought Jim climbed the ranks so quickly was because of his father and not his natural genius. The fact that he could care less about his daughter though was shocking. She was his only family left after his wife died during childbirth. The _Enterprise_ had originally been on a small cruise run, then they'd been assigned to deep space for unknown reasons. They were also told not to go anywhere else after their cargo transport.

"Have you at least prepared the others for battle?" Jim asked not needing to clarify "the others".

"Yes." Admiral Barnett said.

At that moment there was an alarm for the room's door. Spock went to go see who it was. A few seconds later he came back into view for the Admirals looking as impassive as ever.

"There is a Federation ship in range." Was all he said for everyone to know that Khan had arrived way sooner than expected.

"I'm sure you want to say goodbye to your families. Channels will be open and I'll alert them." Jim said not looking at the Admirals.

"Thank you." Barnett said.

"Tarsus IV. The second." Jim said and only Barnett and Spock knew why Jim had brought up that particular disaster.

Jim cut the channel without another word or looking at the Admirals. They couldn't really think that by letting the _Enterprise_ go that Khan would leave them alone. There were a few moments of silence where Jim was thinking of what to do. Then silently the two left the room for the bridge. On the bridge everyone could tell that something was wrong when they saw that even Jim was emotionless. He slumped down in the Captain's chair while Spock stood rigidly behind him.

"Chekov, open a ship line." Jim ordered quietly.

"Yes keptin." Chekov said immediately.

Jim waited until he was sure people were watching. The announcement pained him. He knew there would be lives lost, friends and family. And not everyone would be able to say goodbye.

"This is Captain Kirk speaking." Jim started. "I need everyone to listen here. Stop everything. Certain events in the past few days have led to certain revelations. I'm sure all of you are familiar with the Khan incident last year. If not just have someone fill you in. Unfortunately, Khan somehow broke out of the cryogenic sleep he'd been put in." He paused at the gasps that echoed on the bridge. "And this time he managed to break his crew out as well. Already lives have been lost. And this was six weeks ago. The Admiralty and the rest of Star Fleet have decided to keep us in the dark about it. The Federation ship currently in range was decommissioned until Khan and his crew decided to use it as an escape means. I am sorry to say, that no help will be coming." He stopped at the chatter that erupted along with gasps of horror. "Right now I want everyone to go back to their quarters and say goodbye to your families, because I'm sorry to say that I'm not sure what the outcome will be this time. Once everyone is done with that, back to your battle stations. We will be on red alert from here on out. I advise our guests to stay in their quarters please. Kirk out."

As everyone left to their quarters, Jim stayed in the Captain's chair looking out at the vast amount of space in front of him. He had no plan for this one. There were no planets anywhere near them and he was afraid that if he had shuttles deployed then Khan would go after them. And even if he could get in contact with Khan and try to negotiate, there would be no guarantee that he would keep his word. Khan was a wildcard at best. And the guests technically weren't part of his crew, so the "crew is my family" card wouldn't work in their favor. Khan betrayed them the last time anyways.

Jim was scared, truly scared. He couldn't get his family off the ship and each scenario he played in his mind resulted in the entire ship's death. People would die, no matter what. Jim was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't hear Spock or any of his other friends. He didn't even realize Sulu was in front of him until the man shook his head a little. Even then it was hard to focus. Reality and his thoughts began to collide so he was slightly confused when he saw Sulu in front of him.

"What are you doing here? Thought I told you to go back to your quarters." Jim said.

"We did. It's been fifteen minutes." Bones said.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked.

"Ready. The guests are in their quarters and the stations are manned." Spock reported.

"How far is he?" Jim asked, not needing to elaborate the "he" being referred to.

"Zree milez." Pavel answered.

"They've loaded their weapons sir." Sulu reported just as several shots hit the ship.

The ship shook as they were continuously hit by the _USS Galaxy_, Khan's new ship. One particular strong blast made the ship lose it's balance and tilt madly while everyone fell back or slid away from their stations. Jim was thrown from his chair and dropped all the way down to the wall of the bridge while Spock, Uhura and some others of the bridge crew managed to grab some part of their stations or chairs to hold onto. Chekov and Sulu were hanging onto their seats and buckled up. Bones managed to duck into the alcove of the turbo lift since it was the closest thing to keep him from falling with Jim.

"Captain!" Spock shouted at Jim who hadn't moved since he'd fallen.

"I'm good." Jim groaned and shook his head.

"It is best you stay there until the ship returns its balance sir." Spock said as Jim was about to start climbing to make his way back to the Captain's chair.

"No shit." Bones grumbled.

"Engineering to da Bridge! Da bal'nce will return momentarily Cap'n." Scotty said.

There were no more shots from Khan's ship and until the ship balanced itself out they couldn't do anything. Within minutes the ship was righted and Jim painfully made his way back to his chair. His ankle was on fire but he ignored it in favor of helping the other bridge crew members get back to their stations.

"We're being hailed sir." Nyota said when she got back to her station.

"On screen." Jim answered.

Nyota answered the hail and instantly they saw Khan, hair slicked back with a smirk. He was in his usual black ensemble and looked entirely too smug. There was a dangerous glint in his pale blue eyes.

"Captain Kirk." Khan said.

"Khan. See you made it out, again." Jim said.

"There is nothing in the universe that can keep me locked up for long." Khan said.

"A cryo-tube can." Bones said.

"But it failed." Khan countered.

"And now you're back for revenge." Jim said with fake excitement.

"Energize." Was all Khan said in reply.

Khan's reply confused everyone on the bridge until golden light swirled around Jim and Spock. They looked around the bridge helplessly as they were beamed onto Khan's ship. They'd even tried to run away to no avail.

"NO!" Bones, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov screamed.

Bones tried to grab Jim but Jim was gone before the doctor reached him. On screen Khan looked behind him then turned back to look smugly at the remaining bridge crew. They saw JIm and Spock beamed onto the bridge and were immediately restrained.

"JIM! SPOCK!" Bones yelled before the channel was cut.

Everyone on the bridge stood or sat where they were, stunned until Khan's ship warped away.

"Great! Now we have no Captain or First Officer and Khan has them!" Bones exclaimed.

"Sulu is the Second Officer. He's now acting Captain." Uhura pointed out.

"Scotty to the Bridge!" Scotty's voice said over a channel.

"Sulu here." Hikaru answered.

"What 'n da blazes hap'ned up there?! Where's Jim 'nd Mr. Spock?" Scotty asked in absolute confusion.

"Jim and Mr. Spock were forcefully beamed over to Khan's ship." Sulu answered.

There was silence, then Scotty started a string of colorful words. Sulu sighed and Nyota lightly chuckled at Scotty.

"What 're we gonna do now?" Scotty asked after he was done.

"We're going to call Star Fleet, go back to the nearest planet, drop off the guests then go after Spock and Jim." Sulu said instantly, he'd obviously been giving the situation a thought beforehand.

"Plotting courze to Ulutariz." Chekov said instantly.

"Does anyone know if it's possible to man the ship with just five people?" Sulu asked.

"If ve direct all zyztemz to ze bridge ve can. Only engineering vill have to have a perzon to man it." Chekov explained.

"Do it. Get me a ship wide broadcast." Sulu said.

"You are on sir." Nyota said.

"Attention crew and guests of the _Enterprise_." Sulu said in a strong voice. "This is Acting Captain Sulu speaking. Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock were forcefully beamed aboard Khan's ship. They then entered warp and left. Right now we will be heading back to Ulutaris where everyone aside from myself, CMO Doctor McCoy, Lieutenent Uhura, Ensign Chekov and CEO Mr. Scott, will abandon the ship. We will be contacting Star Fleet to tell them to send a transport to wherever you are needed. Sulu out."

_Sulu has gotten more confident_, Nyota thought as she listened to him. His voice was strong and clear. As they headed to Ulutaris she dealt with the various messages being sent to her by the crew. Many did not want to abandon the ship and many were having a uproar. There were a few who said that they should just head back to Earth and stay there, forget about Kirk and Spock. Nyota responded to each message and to those who wanted to abandon Spock and Kirk she copied and sent to the Admiralty for insubordination. Sulu sent the ship into warp 8 to Ulutaris then went to stand in front of the Captain's chair as Nyota contacted Star Fleet. Five minutes later a channel opened and the Admirals appeared sitting at a conference table.

"Where's Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock?" Admiral Barnett asked immediately.

"Khan pulled a Marcus." Sulu said earning small smiles for the metaphor.

"A Marcus?" Another Admiral asked confused.

"They were beamed onto Khan's ship forcefully." Sulu clarified. "The ship went into warp straight after. Right now we are requesting transport for a majority of the crew and our guests."

"To where?" Admiral Komack asked.

"Ulutaris, sir."

"You said majority. Explain." Komack demanded.

"We're dropping off the surviving crew and guests. Ensign Chekov, Lieutenant Uhura, CMO McCoy, CEO Scott and myself will stay aboard. We will then go after Khan's ship." Sulu explained.

"You will not." Komack said.

"And why not?" Nyota asked stepping into the Admirals' view with her arms crossed and her weight shifted onto one leg, she also had on her "You better be carefull because if the next words you say are wrong then you better be ready to shit bricks" face.

"Because it would be a waste of time and resources." Komack said as if it were obvious.

"Alright then. We'll keep the guests aboard and let the crew go then go after Khan's ship." Nyota said.

"Neither will you do that. You will come back to Earth immediately."

"No. We're sticking with our plan. It's all your fault this happened in the first place. If you had warned us earlier then we wouldn't even be in this mess. If you had the sense to eliminate Khan and his crew for good the first time then this wouldn't have happened. Court marshall us. We could care less! It's not like I'm staying in Star Fleet anymore after this! What about you guys?" Nyota asked everyone on the bridge who agreed with her.

"And look how bad this is for the Fed. Two-time heroes Captain James T. Kirk and First Officer S'chn T'gai Spock are kidnapped and the Federation won't even lift a finger to help. Captain Kirk being the son of another hero and youngest ever Star Fleet Captain as well as a survivor, while First Officer Spock being the son of a Vulcan Ambassador and basically Vulcan royalty. Great grandson of Vulcan Elder T'Pau and nephew to Ambassador and Elder Selek (AKA, Spock Prime but only a few people knew about that). Both mothers being important recreational coordinators. They being the best pair of Commanding Officers in the Fleet. And then there's Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. Youngest Communications Officer in Fleet history with xenolinguistics of hundreds of species memorized, more than any other communications officer. Ensign Pavel Chekov, youngest navigator in Fleet history. Commanding Engineering Officer Montgomery Scott, by far the best engineer in history also being the person to discover transwarp beaming. Myself, not to brag but I discovered over twenty vaccinations for seemingly incurable diseases and illnesses from other planets. Each of us has been offered high positions in famous businesses regarding our majors. And the Fleet will lose every one of these officers because of their own negligence. Abuse of power and threat to innocent lives. Not to mention the fact that some of your own families are on board." McCoy ranted forcefully. "And yet there is not a care in the world as long as the Admirals of the Star Fleet keep their high positions of power. So whether you like it or not, we're dropping the crew off and going after Spock and Kirk, God dammit."

Nyota was just about to cut the channel when an assistant for the Admirals entered the conference room and handed Admiral Barnett a PADD.

"It seems that there's being a mass of people who are quitting the Fleet once they get back to Earth. All from the _Enterprise_." Barnett said.

Chekov looked back to the controls and instantly saw the problem. The entire conversation with the Admiralty had been a shipwide announcement thanks to someone's hacking.

"If zey vant to quit zen it iz zeir dezizon." Chekov said.

"So either send transportation or we can just let your families die." Sulu said and Nyota cut the channel before anyone could say anything else.

"That didn't sound like a threat at all." McCoy said sarcastically just as the turbo lift doors opened to reveal the families of the Admirals.

There was Admiral Archer's son and daughter-in-law with two of their three children, Barnett's wife and three kids and the other families, each of whom did not look happy. Komack's daughter and the middle child of Archer's grandchildren remained missing. There were tear tracks on the mother's eyes and everyone instantly know why her child was missing. There were several people missing of the Admirals' families and no one knew whether or not those people just decided not to come out or were injured or dead.

"We are not bargaining chips, Captain." Archer's son said instantly. "And we are not hostages."

"Never said you were. Although if there is no transport at Ulutaris then that would mean how little your Admirals care about you compared to their own power." Sulu said calmly.

"Of course they'll send the transport. You threatened them." Mrs. Barnett said.

"We didn't threaten them. Now off the bridge."

None of the families moved. They just stood and glared at Sulu who was looking bored despite the fact that he was a glare target.

"Nyota. Show them off please." Sulu sighed entirely bored.

"With pleasure." Nyota said walking to the families. "Would you prefer I kick you out the old fashioned way or use some Vulcan techniques to throw you out?

* * *

I've finally had time! Hence the onslaught of chapters nobody will read. Oh well. This is fun.

~ARA


	5. Pain

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

The first thing that came to Jim's mind when his atoms re-formed was, _Oh shit_. Immediately after all the lights faded away he and Spock were rushed by Khan's crew. His arms were pinned behind his back in a grip with superhuman strength that he had no hope of escaping from. But he struggled, never let it be said that he never went without a fight. In return he got punches in the gut. He heard Spock struggling and hoped that with his Vulcan strength he could get them out of there. He might have had a strength boost thanks to Khan's blood but it was no match against pure engineered superhumans. There was a chance since Spock had managed to beat Khan the last time, he was told there were bruises and slightly fractured bones. He took in his surroundings and realized they'd been beamed directly to the bridge. Khan stood directly two feet in front of him with an almost invisible smirk on his face.

"JIM! SPOCK!" He heard Bones yell through the channel which was still open until Khan cut it.

"Welcome to the USS Galaxy gentlemen." Khan said turning to face them with a wicked smirk.

"Well this isn't deja vu at all." Jim said sarcastically.

That got him a slap across the face by one of his guards. He ended up on the floor because apparently they still weren't used to their strength. Spock went bazerk at that. Kirk managed to sit up but spit out some blood that was quickly filling his mouth. Some even dripped out of the corner of his mouth. He glared up at the guard who slapped him while the guard glared back.

"Take them to my quarters." Khan demanded lazily.

Jim was yanked up and shoved out after Spock roughly. Along the way he was tripped, pushed to the ground, kicked and punched and suffered the crushing grips of his captors. Spock received much the same treatment. When they finally arrived at Khan's quarters Jim was sporting a black eye, a split lip, several cracked and bruised ribs, severe bruising, a nosebleed and slight internal bleeding. Spock ended up with severe bruising on the ribs and skin, a bruised jaw, and a slightly sprained ankle.

They were shoved into the captain's quarters onto the floor and the door was locked. They highly doubted the guards would just leave them since the lock mechanism was on the inside so they didn't try. They didn't even get up from their positions on the floor. Jim needed some rest to heal and because he'd skipped three day's worth of sleep. Spock had of course kept track of his captain's sleeping habits. So Spock stayed awake as Jim passed out. He needed to get Jim away from there ASAP. Unfortunately all he could do at that moment was move Jim onto the bed where he'd be more comfortable.

The lights were off but he knew the ship already having been on it before. It was one of the newer decommissioned ships so there were some useful pieces of tech installed but he just had to get Jim out, that was his mission. He walked to where the he thought the couch might be but ended up walking into something with thick metal bars. By the shape and feel of it, it was a cage as far as he could tell but there was nothing in it. It was about six feet tall, about four feet wide on each side. When he finally found the couch he lay down on it but did not go to sleep. He was thinking of a plan to get away. Had to. He remained in deep thought until the door opened and Khan stepped in.

"Lights to fifty percent." Khan's deep voice ordered the room.

Spock sat straight and alert. Khan noticed him right away and strode over to him languidly. Spock stiffened ever so slightly but Khan seemed to have noticed it because the smirk on his face only grew bigger.

"Spock. I see you've acquainted yourself." Khan said.

"Indeed." Was all Spock replied with.

"So how is my favorite little Vulcan?" Khan asked mockingly.

"I am neither little or a favorite person." Spock said.

"You really are a stick in the mud." Khan said dryly then sighed at Spock's confused look.

Khan then turned to go wake Jim. Instantly Spock was standing between Khan and Jim. He didn't even realize he'd moved until Khan stopped.

"Do not touch him." Spock said in a low voice.

Khan merely laughed, "Or what?"

Spock braced himself for a fight and at the same time both men lunged at each other. They wrestled for a considerable amount of time but Khan got the upper hand with his alarming amount of energy. He ended up straddling Spock pinning the Vulcan's arms to his sides.

"That was fun. I wish my crew had your fierceness." Khan sighed.

Khan picked Spock up and threw him in the empty cage Spock had found earlier. Khan then shackled Spock's wrists above him. Khan left the cage and returned to go wake Jim up. Before Khan got on the bed he shed his coat and shoes and crawled up Jim's body until he was straddling him and pinned his hands above him. Jim stirred, feeling a weight on his body. When he opened his eyes and registered that Khan was on top of his he started to struggle but realized quickly that he was not going anywhere.

"Where's Spock?" Jim asked as his First Officer was first on his mind.

"Over in the corner." Khan shifted to let Jim see Spock for himself.

"Why the hell do you have a cage in here?" Jim asked.

"Why not?" Khan shrugged.

"Because it's creepy." Jim said plainly disgusted.

"It has it's uses." Khan purred as he lent down. "You know why you're here, don't you?"

"I have a theory. And I don't like it." Jim said uncomfortable.

Jim yelped as he was suddenly flipped over. Khan was still straddling him and he could feel Khan's free hand rubbing his back. He shifted uncomfortably but Khan apparently didn't take the hint. If anything his hand went further down Jim's back, toward the hem of his shirt and the waistband of his pants. When Khan's hand disappeared from touching his back he was relieved, until his shirt was ripped off. Then he started freaking out.

"No! Hey! Stop it!" Jim shouted as Khan started tugging at the waistband of his pants.

Khan's weight disappeared for a second until his knee was on Jim's back, pinning him down as Khan tore off his pants leaving him only in his boxers. Jim tried to kick at Khan but nothing worked. Khan took his own clothes off and both were left in their boxers. Spock could do nothing as his best friend was about to get raped. His strength was no match for the shackles and even if he could break out of those, there was no telling if the cage bars would be pliable enough. Khan slowly stripped Jim of his boxers and ripped off his own. For Jim, the next two hours were filled with pain. For Spock the next few hours were filled with emotional pain, horror and heartbreak.

* * *

Yeah, I know. I'm hated.

~ARA


End file.
